Service held for Marin County sheriff's deputy killed in crash

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Hundreds of law enforcement officers from as far away as Irvine, gathered at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael to say goodbye to Marin County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan Zirkle. He died in the line of duty.

The service was held at the Marin Center in San Rafael.

"We know Ryan was supposed to be a part of our future not our past," said Marin Sheriff Robert Doyle during a two-hour funeral.

Zirkle was just 24-years-old.

He was answering a 911 call March 15 when his car skidded off Highway One near Pt Reyes Station and hit a tree.

In a heart wrenching twist the person who made that emergency call had hung up without saying what the problem was.

Those who knew Zirkle say he loved serving he community where he grew up. He was always smiling.

"He had energy for the night shift..never had a bad day. At best he had a bad hour," said Sean Zirkle, Ryan's brother.

Law enforcement officers are part of a tight community, and say they want to be there when one them falls.

"This goes to the heart of how responding to a call for service you could lose your life.This could be any one of us at any given time," said Assistant San Francisco Police Chief Toney Chaplin.

Weeks before he died, Zirkle had just bought a house in Petaluma with his fiancee and high school sweetheart Stephanie Falzon.

"As Stephanie said after Ryan did, dad we were so happy. We had the perfect life," said Stephanie's father Dan Falzon.

Zirkle was a star football, basketball and baseball player at San Marin High School.

Those who knew himi say he was always the life of the party and the first person you'd call if you needed anything.

Instead of a moment of silence, Zirkle's family called for a "moment of roar" asking everyone in attendance to clap, yell or cheer, which everyone did.

Zirkle leaves behind his parents, two brothers and his fiancee.